Among other activities, the car-sized rover has been snapping photos of its own tire tracks and its sophisticated science arm.Ī magnificent new photo mosaic (below) shows NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter. Meanwhile, as Ingenuity made its flight preparations and eventually took off on its first flight on April 19, 2021, Perseverance has been looking at its surroundings and sending back images. There’s even a chance that the rover could record audio of Ingenuity’s flights using its two onboard microphones, NASA officials have said. And Perseverance will be watching as well, from a safe distance away. But it will document its upcoming flights with a high-resolution camera. Ingenuity won’t gather any data, since the small rotorcraft doesn’t carry any scientific instruments. NASA officials tested the blades first at 50 and then at 2,400 revolutions per minute before the helicopter took off.ĭue to Ingenuity’s success, future red planet missions may commonly include helicopters, which could serve as scouts for rovers and gather data on their own, NASA officials have said. Unlocking and testing Ingenuity’s blades marked the last major preparation milestones before the helicopter attempted its first flight. Then, Perseverance had to set Ingenuity directly on the Martian surface and drive away, allowing the helicopter’s solar panels to begin supporting the aircraft. But after the rover dropped that shield and drove to the airfield, the helicopter’s personnel ordered the device to unpack and slowly unfold itself. It was tucked inside the rover’s body behind a protective shield. Ingenuity’s flight preparation process has been slow and cautious, in part because the 4 pound (1.8 kg) helicopter made the journey to Mars in a folded configuration. The helicopter rode to Mars attached to the belly of the Perseverance rover, arriving on Mars on February 18, 2021. The Mars helicopter – Ingenuity – is a technology demonstration that accomplished the first powered flight on Mars. Next, we’ll do a slow-speed spin-up of the blades for the first time on the Martian surface. The blades of glory, aka rotor blades of the #MarsHelicopter, have been unlocked and are ready for testing. JPL wrote in a tweet posted early in the day on April 8: Ingenuity arrived at Mars on February 18 along with the Perseverance rover, having made the long trek out to the red planet tucked inside the rover’s belly. Before the flight could happen, NASA needed to reinstall the software to fix a problem that arose when engineers tried to switch the helicopter from pre-flight to flight mode. The helicopter’s first experimental flight was originally scheduled for April 11. Distant view toward the new location of the Mars helicopter (front, center) in front of the red desert landscape of Mars. The text on the left-side wall reads Dare mighty things. The team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory cheered as word arrived of the helicopter’s first flight. NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover April 19, 2021 More images and video to come… #MarsHelicopter /mbiOGx4tJZ More details from NASA here about Ingenuity’s first flight, including replays.Ĭlick here for NASA’s Mars helicopter fact sheet A post-flight press conference took place on Monday at 18:00 UTC (2 p.m. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California – the facility that manages the helicopter’s activity – also broadcast the flight live. EDT translate UTC to your time) on April 19 and could be followed on NASA TV. NASA coverage began at 10:15 UTC (6:15 a.m. Expected to follow are a handful of other test flights over a month-long campaign that aims to show that aerial exploration is feasible in Mars’ atmosphere, which is about 1/100 the thickness of Earth’s atmosphere. It was the first powered, guided flight on another planet. The team at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, broke into cheers as flight controllers announced the success of this first demonstration flight. NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully flew for the first time in the thin air above the red planet on April 19, 2021. UPDATE APRIL 24, 2021: The Mars helicopter Ingenuity has successfully flown twice now, and NASA is prepping for a third flight. This successful first flight was a technology demonstration for powered flight on Mars. As the Mars helicopter – Ingenuity – hovered above the surface of Mars on April 19, 2021, its own navigation camera captured its shadow on the Martian surface.
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